Don't Forget to Love Me
by knives4cash
Summary: Sabine dances with Ezra. Sabine kisses Ezra. Sabine slaps Ezra and kisses him some more.
1. Don't Forget to Dance with Me

Sabine had rarely felt true triumph. When Gar Saxon fell dead on the ice, his heart burnt to a crisp by her mother's deadly aim, she knew at that moment that her family was truly back on her side. No more customs, no more laws, just a mother, a daughter, and a brother, reunited as a family once again. Of course, she wasn't surprised when Fen Rau had to comment on the political turmoil that would soon follow Saxon's death, and she was even less surprised when her mother resumed her persona and proudly declared Mandalore's need for violence to strengthen its position.

"Forget about it," Sabine spoke up, vigor and determination in her tone. Firmly treading over the ice, she took her mother's hands into her own. Looking up at her mother, Sabine finally had a reason to smile that day. "I have my family again, and I'll be damned if we don't make a day worth remembering it!"

Her mother gave a haughty laugh at her zeal, and her brother scoffed. To them, it had been just another day of Mandalorian politics mixed in with a welcome surprise. Sabine would have none of it be reduced to such a mundane affair and pulled her mother into a hug, one that finally felt worthy of receiving from a mother. Only on those cold, sad nights in the Ghost did Hera's hugs feel as warm as this did.

Sabine slowly let go of her mother, who was certainly glad to have her daughter back but felt just a little bit uncomfortable with letting down her walls in front of so many people, especially to the Jedi outsiders.

"Ever seen how Mandalorians party, Ezra?" Sabine called out with a grin. Tossing her hair back, she took in a breath of fresh, crisp air. "There's a reason we only had one Mandalorian Jedi on the Council!"

To that, Ezra had to laugh. Kanan groaned, but he couldn't hide his grin, as he recalled wild nights with Mandalorians in the Clone War when he was such a young and naive kid.

* * *

Back inside the palace, the troops had hastily cleaned up the shoot out room and disposed of the traitors. With everything in order, they awaited their Countess.

"Tihaar, the galaxy's best engine degreaser!" Sabine's mother announced to her crowd of rowdy Mandalorians who had survived the shootout. In true Mandalorian fashion, they were about to party on the grounds of their defeated enemies. In truer fashion, they all began to shriek and bellow as their Countess brought out the last two barrels of their Tihaar, smashing their fists against their helmets and quick-igniting their jetpacks for additional noise.

Ezra wasn't sure if they were going to tear themselves apart before the Countess allowed them to drink, but Sabine was having a hearty laugh over the display, and so he joined in hollering as she bashed her helmet against her chestplate.

"We have Kri'gee for the real men!" Fen Rau roared over the cheering as he hoisted a red barrel over his head triumphantly, to which the crowd redoubled their efforts to shatter the stained glass mural with their voices.

Kanan patted Ezra on the shoulder. "I am far too old for this. I'll be outside."

"You're missing out!" he and Sabine said to the same effect, to which Kanan chuckled.

"I've partied enough with Mandalorians," he assured them as he departed into the calm, crisp winter day.

As the warriors broke open their barrels and began to drink heartily, Sabine grabbed two cups and filled them halfway. The warriors, though rowdy, recognized that they couldn't afford to spill a drop, and a laugh was had over how stingy they had become under the Empire. With Sabine in the thick if the crowd, the cheers began to call for her to step up and speak, to which her mother nodded approvingly.

Hopping up onto the table, Sabine hoisted her glasses over her head and screamed, "Kriff the Empire!"

It was a unanimous vote of approval, louder than their appreciation of their fine beverages, and it did no small favor to Sabine's already inflated ego for the day.

Hopping down, she took several slaps to the shoulders and head as she made her way back to Ezra. The bulk of the crowd lined up for their drinks while she handed him one precious glass.

"Drink, or just look like you're drinking," she calmly instructed as she threw back her glass. Eyes partially rolling back, she groaned, "They'll tear you apart if they see you waste any of this!"

Nodding, Ezra proceeded to make three mistakes. First, he sniffed the drink as she handed it to him. He figured that the Countess had spoken in hyperbole when she called it engine degreaser, but he wasn't sure if he was legitimately being handed a cup of degreasing fluid. As his eyes began to water, he gawked as Sabine took a second, hearty swig and swallowed. Resolving to do her proud, he held his breath and took a drink. His second mistake was actually trying to drink it like a glass of water, something to be leisurely sipped after a hearty meal; nearly crying, he wondered why the strong filth tasted like oil, only if oil was sugary.

His third mistake was spitting it back into the cup, jaw wide open as he his tear ducts expressed his wild discomfort. Long, sticky trails of his saliva mixed with the drink, and he spat the residue in his mouth back into his cup, desperate to get the taste out for good.

Having an eye on the child who had taken a fancy to her daughter, the Countess smirked, eyebrow raised, as her entire gang quickly took notice of this failure to appreciate the luxuries of life. They boo'ed him, called for his head, questioned his anatomy, and one female voice asked if he'd prefer her own breast milk. The crowd had a good laugh at that and quickly resumed drinking and being merry.

Sabine took the cup from his hand. "I have a lot to show you," she huffed with a grin as she snapped her head back and drank half his cup in one go.

"At least I have the Force!" he tried to defend himself as he began to feel very out of place with the warriors.

Wheezing, she nearly doubled over but stood firm. Swallowing hard, she felt the acidic sludge slide down her throat, burning like a blaster. "I am a force!" she bellowed back at him as she could feel the warm, molten iron in her stomach.

Her brother took her drink from her hand as she was busy with her tirade. "Lightweight!" he laughed, helping himself to her drink.

Sabine wheeled around and lunged for her drink. Tristan sidestepped her, and she flailed, catching her arm around his, spinning him as she herself spun. Careful to balance his drink, Tristan engaged in a small dance with his sister as she regained her footing. The display caught the attention of the crowd, who colorfully voiced their desires to show how a real dancer danced.

"Bring out the valachord!" Sabine's mother commanded, to which a few of her underlings hastily raced out to obey their Countess' wish. A long time after, in a galaxy far, far away this beautiful instrument would be reinvented as the "piano", though it would not accompany the proud culture of anyone so fine as the Mandalorians.

The valachord's hover cell had long been stripped for more pragmatic uses, but that didn't stop the Mandalorians from using sheer back power to hoist the massive coffin-shaped keyboard out into the hall. After a few rowdy soldiers, tipsy or not it was hard to tell, tried to show their prowess with the keys, but the Countess wasn't interested in auditions. "Tristan! Man the keys," she commanded as she sauntered over to the center of the room, her troops naturally parting like tides to make way for her.

Grinning, Tristan did as he was told. He chose a slow drawl with rapid sessions of highs and lows for starters. Sabine couldn't remember how long it had been since she'd heard a valachord being used for real music, much less for a real Mandalorian celebration. But, she was able to remember when her mother used to smile as she did at that moment. Always looking to the future, Sabine found herself overcome with nostalgia and a big, dumb smile stretching from ear to ear.

"Your mother can dance?!" Ezra gawked as Sabine continued to drink from her recovered glass. What little Tristan did not take, she happily downed.

"You haven't seen a real Mandalorian dance," Sabine hummed.

The Countess, always one to put on some kind of performance, began to match Tristan's tune. Arms hanging loose, she began to scuff her boots back and forth, hopping up and down, side-to-side. As his tune drawled, so did her step, and when he accelerated she began to hop to the base and move like water with the treble clef.

"Faster, boy!" she called out as her rusty dancing skills had quickly been oiled with practice and a fine three glasses of Kri'gee. "You'll rock me to sleep!"

Tristan obliged, and his hands began to dance and pound on the keys, riding up and down the board as he dared his mother to hop like a rabbit, to which she eagerly accepted. As Ursa got into the faster tune, she swung her arms wildly outwards as she began to dance faster, feet hopping and skipping as her fancy footwork took her in a figure eight pattern. The cheers of her soldiers shot through the roof as the calm, cold, calculated Fen Rau slammed down the rest of his drink and jumped into the dance with the fair Ursa Wren.

Slapping her hands to her cheeks, Sabine practically squealed, "Mother! You can't be serious!" Sure enough, Ursa Wren welcomed her new partner onto the field, and the two adults began to mirror each other's footwork. Undoing her bun, Ursa Wren let her greying hair flow freely behind her. It danced about her shoulders, free as her spirit.

Laughing hard, Tristan challenged the dancers with a quicker pace to his tune, and the two accepted. A man out to prove himself, Fen stopped his figure eight and began to wildly kick his legs about, arms firmly crossed about his chest.

Always one to rise to a challenge, Ursa crossed her own arms and skidded to a halt. She not only began to mirror his kick-step but threw in a routine of high-kicks to earn whistles and hoots from her men and even some of her women.

Fen tried to win back the crowd under Tristan's hearty keys by using thunderous stomps in his footwork, but Ursa had soundly defeated him. He took a bow, to which Ursa accepted with a bow of her own. "Drink with me, Rau!" she called out over the roars, and the two cleared the dance floor for the troops.

"Hey, mom!" Tristan shouted as he continued to play. "Can you get me a refi-! Mom! Okay, I guess not!" he loudly decided with a huff and a grin. He resumed playing, so that the others could enjoy dancing with their partners and friends.

Sabine hadn't realized she was tipsily swaying her body back and forth until she caught Ezra looking at her. "I know what you want," she saucily said.

Smug, Ezra raised an eyebrow and scrunching his lips in a smirk.

Poking him with the safe end, she gave him his lightsaber back. Rolling his eyes, Ezra took it back and attached it to his belt. "Thanks," he scoffed.

"I'll show you how to dance!" she selflessly sacrifice as she thrust her hands into his and dragged him closer to the valachord.

"Sabine!" Ezra nervously laughed. Not intent upon looking the fool again, he tried to insist, "I-! You-!"

"It's no problem at all, you're welcome!" she assured him, cheeks growing rosier. "Watch, just mirror my step!" True to the tune, she began to hop up and down, alternating on one leg while scraping the floor in a flurry of motions with the other. Her arms swung loose and free as Tristan continued to play.

Ezra, far too sober for the occasion, felt it best to try to have fun in it all, despite the totally-not-leering gazes he was drawing.

She started with her right foot as a foundation, using it to balance herself as she kicked and scraped her left foot back and forth, side to side to the tune of the valachord, a happy and upbeat tune.

As Tristan's hands began to roam up and down the board, so did Sabine's step, as she began to hop from one foot to the other, mirroring her scraping motions. Hopping side to side, Sabine rapidly slammed her fist down on the instrument, and Tristan began to pick up speed in response. Sabine, in turn, began to swing her arms jubilantly as if they were liquid. The smile on her face was bright enough to clash with Ezra's saber, and he awkwardly began to clap along, not sure of what to do with himself.

"Copy my style!" Sabine instructed with a laugh. She slowed down her step. "Out, back, side, side," she repeated as she pointed at her moving boot.

Ezra began to do as she instructed, though completely offbeat.

Seeing him struggle but stick to it, Sabine felt a bit of shame over how she had reacted to Kanan's teachings at first. Ezra was definitely the better student, as far as she was concerned in comparing herself to him. Recognizing that the tune Tristan was playing wasn't going to help, she leaned over.

"Play us something more for beginners?" she asked as sweetly as she was tipsy.

Grinning, Tristan motioned with his head towards the center of their new ballroom. "Take your dhar'tome out to the dancefloor, and you got it."

Rolling her eyes, Sabine nodded but threatened, "If you embarrass me I'm going to twist your arm."

"You will try," he shot back with a squint, recalling previous matches that had not gone as planned.

"I will do what I must," she scoffed as she dragged Ezra out to the center. The troops immediately began to clear a path and give the girl of honor some space. The loud rumbles of the party began to quiet down as everyone backed up, getting a good view of their new entertainment.

Sabine had felt the weight of the world on her shoulders as she battled Saxon. A dance with one awkward boy was hardly a trial for her at that point.

"Don't forget to dance with me," he nervously reminded her as Tristan confidently cracked his knuckles.

Smiling, Sabine rosily hummed, "I'll show you the time of your life!"

True to his word, Tristan began to play a slower tune. It was still happy and upbeat to Ezra's untrained ear, but Sabine immediately recognized the song to be a sub-component in the larger symphony arrangement of Meluran's "Woes of The Warrior", one of the sauciest romance operas Mandalore had ever produced. Truly, it was a classic symphony from the days of the Old Republic.

Everyone broke out into laughter as Tristan began to play.

"What's going on?" Ezra wondered as he began to mirror Sabine's gentle, bobbing sway.

Sabine let them have their laugh as she lined her body up with the rhythm. "Nothing," she lied. Spying her mother cross her hand over her mouth in a feigned, thoughtful pose, she scowled. "You're an outsider trying to dance with a Mandalorian, that's all. This song's good for beginners, because it repeats its tune in double-increments. I'll do a bit, and you'll watch. Then the music will reset with a more elaborate base, and you'll emulate what I did."

"Sure, sure," Ezra agreed, nodding as he adjusted his shirt collar, feeling somewhat heated within the palace walls of the winter wonderland.

"I'll use my right foot first. Just watch the kick step." The music began to play in ernest, and Sabine played along. "Step, step, side, side, step," she instructed with each kick and scrape of her boot. Step, step, side, side, step... now you go," Sabine instructed as the first lively iteration finished.

Bobbing and swaying, Ezra threw his left foot out and stiffly imitated Sabine's smooth, sleek flowing legs. When he completed his first loop, Sabine's beaming smile filled him with a sense of pride and accomplishment, even though all of the other Mandalorians gave him a hearty round of hoots and hollers for appreciating their ways.

That pride sank into a pit of intimidating suspicion as the Countess stepped up with a knowing smirk on her lips. Patting Sabine on the shoulder, she announced to the whole room. "Step aside, Sabine. Your dhar'tome needs a teacher!"

"Mother!" Sabine shrieked with embarrassment, slapping her hands over her face as she stumbled away in laughter. "He's not my-!"

"I'm a what?" Ezra wondered as the Countess yelled at her son to play them a saucier tune, the audience enjoying his bewilderment far too much.

"Keep up, child!" she called out as her legs began to fly about. Her flexibility was on par with Sabine's, but her speed and finesse held decades more experience, even though she was out of practice. "This is how you woo a daughter of Clan Wren!"

Ezra suddenly had a good idea of what a dhar'tome was.

* * *

 **A/N:** Old Ezra/Sabine trash I spruced up for publishing. I would actually be very ticked if this ship happened and am very grateful that it didn't happen! XD

Also, there's no specific term for "boyfriend", but the term "dhar'tome" is used in an expression "We are one when we are apart," so I think it's pretty darn close enough!

Tune in tomorrow for part 2, and I'll crank out a part 3.


	2. Don't Forget to Kiss Me

When Sabine opened the door, she didn't expect five Stormtroopers of Death to be on the other side. When Saw Gerrera shot the first one, the other four immediately opened fire, and Sabine had just so happened to have been right in the front, protecting her dear friend, Ezra, and his crazy terrorist cousin, Saw. She tried to duck down, quickly snatching up some smoke grenades for the incoming brawl, but four blaster bolts immediately struck her with hyper-deadly accuracy; two struck her helmet, one caught her in the chest, and the fourth struck her right arm.

Her helmet saved her life, nearly snapping her neck as it caught the blasts; but its tactical capabilities were trashed. Sabine's prideful spirit got knocked out of her, along with all of her wind, when the chest piece threatened to snap her ribcage as it took its share of the fire. Her right arm flew back wildly as it caught the blast. While it wasn't blasted off as she had seen many times in others, it was so thoroughly broken that she dropped the smoke grenade in that hand into the hallway behind them.

Still, Sabine was a Mandalorian, through and through. Roaring in pain, she defiantly chucked the smoke grenade in her left hand into the arena as she comically threw herself down to the ground, frantically pushing herself into the left half of the arena with her legs to allow Ezra and Saw to jump in and draw some of the fire. The Death Troopers fired blindly into the smoke, and Sabine heard Saw take a hit on his own armor as Ezra ignited his lightsaber and started deflecting the rest.

When the fire continued, and Ezra had to keep blocking, and she heard the troopers get two more hits on Saw, Sabine realized that the Death Troopers weren't blinded in the slightest. Cursing her luck, Sabine let her ego inflate a bit as she figured that the Empire must have designed an entirely new echelon of trooper just to handle her anti-infrared smoke grenades. Her ego promptly deflated as she got hit in the chest again, knocking her into the wall behind her. If one of those troopers thought they needed to shoot her again for good measure, she was more than happy to play dead for a few seconds to catch her breath.

Drawing one of her blasters with her left hand, Sabine wheezed for air as she fired blindly in the general direction. With her helmet still on, she could only hear the satisfying sparks as she nailed one of them. Having practiced in similar conditions, Sabine grinned as she struggled to breathe. She made good use of her legs and promptly pushed herself out of her previous position of fire, letting Ezra use his fancy Force to receive the large barrage that had ensued. With only one good arm, Sabine listened intently through her busted helmet, carefully aiming her non-dominant hand. When another burst of fire erupted from the trooper closest to her, Sabine shot once.

She missed her target. She knew what trooper armor sounded like, and the firm, electrical sparking she heard wasn't that sound.

" _KRRKGHKR! GUGHKRUGH!"_ one of the troopers immediately shouted.

As the shooting withdrew, Sabine figured that their leader had just called a retreat, no doubt in response to her inaccurate shot. When she heard and felt Ezra coming to her rescue, she redoubled her efforts to stand on her own. She curtly reported the damage she had taken, holstering her pistol and removed her busted helmet. Using the latch on its back, she hung it on a hook welded to her chest piece, a feature designed for prolonged carrying of the helmet. Her arm was not so easily fixed but was set in place with some quickly scavenged armor. After grabbing one of the Death Trooper helmets for herself, she popped it on and confirmed that she could see just fine through the smoke.

"Just like I thought," she confirmed to Ezra and Saw as she took in her surroundings. She had to take it off when they explained that they hadn't heard anything she'd just said. Sabine had wanted to tinker with the radio settings to tap into the enemy comms, but the gigantic kaiburr crystal distracted them for a bit.

When Saw betrayed her and Ezra and turned the crystal into a bomb, Sabine got even more distracted. Still somewhat dazed and aching with a broken arm that Saw had twisted into handcuffs, Sabine wasn't sure if she really was seeing a small army of three Death Troopers and a dozen Stormtroopers charging into the engine room.

"Farewell, friend!" Saw laughed as he uncuffed the two of them and returned their weapons. "I hope we meet again!" he genuinely said as he ducked out of the fight.

"Next time, stick the saber up your ass!" Sabine called out as she shoved the Death Trooper helmet on once more. Smiling at her luck, she quickly found the channel that the enemy was using.

" _-andon ship immediately!"_ a woman ordered as the electrical power from the crystal killed the two Stormtroopers who tried to charge in.

" _Negative, Twenty-Two!"_ a man shouted back as he took pot shots at Sabine. " _Director Krennic wants their bodies!"_

" _There won't be any bodies when the cargo explodes!"_ the woman, apparently Twenty-Two, angrily shouted back. " _Three-six! Four-Five! Cease fire before you blow us all to stardust!"_

As Three-Six and the third Death Trooper continued to fire at them, Sabine drew her blaster while Ezra ignited his lightsaber. The blade immediately acted as a lightning rod for the kaiburr crystal's power, causing Ezra to struggle initially with balancing it all.

" _Negative,Twenty-Two!"_ a second woman, presumably Four-Five, shouted. " _If we bring the bodies back to Krennic-"_

" _We're looking at a promotion for each one!"_ Three-Six finished as the two ambitious Death Troopers continued to fire.

Twenty-Two roared in frustration. " _You're both suicidal morons! Troopers, if you want to live, come with me!"_

" _Fine by me!"_ Four-Five responded. " _Three-Six, I'll take four of the troopers and flank around. Maybe we'll find Saw Gerrera on the way. Hold this choke point while I get into position, and we'll hit them from both directions!"_

" _Sounds good,"_ Three-Six replied, giving a firm shoulder slap in comradery. " _Ninety-C, Ninety-D! Lay down suppression fire, but avoid that crystal! We can't collect if we're dead! We'll charge in on my mark!"_

Taking off her captured helmet, Sabine looked to Ezra. "They're dividing their forces and flanking around. Four-Five and her team will come charging in from behind, and Three-Six will storm the front." Shooting the door panel without looking, she conveniently locked the door.

Ezra was busy holding back the energy from the crystal. "Outnumbered, pinned down, a broken arm, and an angry crystal! Why can't you take me anywhere nice!" he shouted over the scraping, sparking shriek of the crystal.

"If I did, you'd get used to it! A fed Loth-cat bears no fangs!" Sabine heartily shouted as she took a careful shot at one of the peeking troopers. By that point, she had had her ribcage bruised, her dominant arm broken, her neck cricked, her whole body stunned, and her broken arm twisted back even more. Sabine was, by that point, in a lot of pain, and she used that as a justification to miss the twelve shots she took. She donned her Death Trooper helmet again, if anything to hide her pain from Ezra.

"Did you seriously just miss?!" Ezra laughed as he concentrated a Force push and knocked the trooper's head against the wall, conveniently knocking him out without killing him. The maneuver almost lost him his balance, and he stumbled to hold his blade upright against the rising power of the crystal.

"I won't miss your fat ass if you don't stay out of my way!" Sabine shot back as a blaster bolt glanced off of her Death Trooper helmet. "Krif!" she swore as she lost her visuals in her second helmet. "I can't aim like this, Ezra! I'm barely holding the pain at bay!" she admitted as she tossed her helmet aside.

"I'll advance while you cover me!" he suggested. "Give me your spare blaster! I can hold the crystal's power and take out the troopers if their heads are down! Just aim in their direction!"

Sabine shoved her blaster into his right hand. Drawing her second blaster, she nodded. "I can do that!"

"Great!" he said as he ducked behind the crystal's carrier console. "We can break the encirclement and save the prisoners!" Taking cover behind the console, he held his lightsaber high above his head, his arm quivering with so much power surging through the blade. "I'll jump out on three, okay?!"

Sabine knelt beside him, inches away from him. She nodded, ready to suppress.

Three-Six took aim and began to squeeze the trigger. The girl's head was just barely peeking out at his angle. He let off one careful shot just as Ezra finished his next sentence.

Grinning, Ezra said, "Don't forget to -k-iss me!"

A blaster bolt rang millimeters away from her ear, singeing her hair as it smashed part of the wall behind her. As metal bits flew out, she rolled her eyes but had to grin. "I can't believe you!" she laughed as she scooted up to him. Arching her left arm next to his head, leaning against the console, she supported herself as she closed her eyes and smashed her lips against his. Their teeth clashed at first, before she lifted her head back enough to soften it to her liking. Sucking on his lower lip, her lips scraped against his stubble. Brushing her tongue against his lips for a good, parting measure she finally pulled back and opened her eyes. She swore that normally she would never have kissed Ezra Bridger, but under the dire circumstances her normal standards for partners were not so necessary.

Ezra's jaw hung loose, his eyes wide and fixed on her face. He forgot to breathe, so overcome with confusion.

Sabine knew that she wasn't the best, but she was expecting just a little happiness from him. She'd been shot multiple times that day, but his reaction was what _really_ stung. "You'd better hope you die before I can ask you what's up with your stupid face!" she shouted over the blaster fire. Slapping her blaster against his kneepad, she barked, "Now get going, you little osik!"

Ezra leapt up with renewed vigor. Sabine shot up with him, firing rapidly down the hallway. Sure enough, the Death Trooper and remaining clone trooper took cover behind their own corners. Ezra jogged out of the room, slow enough to hold the crystal power steadily in his left hand and fast enough to close the distance for the blaster in his right. The Stormtrooper popped out to take a shot, but Ezra was the faster draw and killed him. Keeping his connection with the crystal secure, he stopped outside the doorway. Three-Six was smarter about it and stuck his rifle out from behind cover and began to fire blindly, only for Ezra to use the Force to misdirect the Death Trooper's aim. It jolted the man out of cover just enough for Ezra to take the shot he needed.

" _KKSSGHKRS!"_

As Three-Six fell dead, Sabine wheeled around to face Four-Five, who kicked down the rear door. In Four-Five's haste to win her fortune, she had left herself wide open. Sabine returned the favor from earlier and pumped the black armor full of blaster bolts. As the Death Trooper fell back, Sabine leapt out of the other four troopers' line of fire. Ezra wheeled around and aimed his lightsaber, redirecting the kaiburr crystal's power down the hallway, frying the last four enemies.

Sabine took the opportunity to make her exit, before the crystal overwhelmed Ezra. The two withdrew safely and started to make their way to the shuttle.

"Sabine, are-" Ezra tried to start.

"Focus!" Sabine demanded as she let him take the lead. "You've got two arms, use 'em! Call Chopper and find out what we're up against! If we're lucky, I'll get to kill you after all this is over!"

When they squared off against Twenty-Two, Sabine gave her a few more holes than necessary. The silverlining in the whole affair for her was that she suddenly had an excuse to repaint her armor, and the ship's explosion gave her a few ideas on her next color scheme. Alone with the first girl to ever kiss him, the awkward silence was far more intimidating for Ezra than any kind of trooper.

* * *

 **A/N:** Tune in for part three either tomorrow, or the day after, hehehehe.


	3. Don't Forget to Like Me

"Shut up. Just shut up. If you say anything right now, you're only going to make me more mad," Sabine had explained to Ezra as they waited for the Ghost to pick them up. After the Kaiburr crystal had exploded, taking out the Star Destroyer in an epic explosion, Ezra had tried to ask Sabine about that intense kiss they'd shared in the heat of battle thirty minutes ago.

When they finally reunited with the rest of the crew, Sabine immediately went to Kanan, explaining how her mangled right arm was causing her just a little bit of discomfort but pridefully informed him that she had taken out some dangerous new types of Stormtroopers in the process. Her smile immediately vanished when Kanan immediately called out, "Ezra! Get in here! I want you to watch me work."

Sabine had previously made good use of Kanan's basic understanding in Force Healing. Even before she joined the crew, apparently he had used his skills on Hera and Zeb a few times, and she herself ended up needing his help once or twice. It was only logical that he try to teach Ezra how to use Force Healing whenever the opportunity arose. Unfortunately for both Sabine and Ezra, Sabine was really not in the mood to have Ezra poking around in her body. In any capacity.

"Kanan, if you could just-" she started to request before Ezra was turning the corner.

"What's up Ka- oh," Ezra also started and ended as he entered the commons area. Seated at their dinner table, Kanan and Sabine were about to start the procedure.

"Ezra, welcome!" Kanan happily exclaimed. Much like a father getting out the old Life Day lights, he thanked, "I'm glad you waited until you two got back to me. I know you've had some practice, but I still like to supervise. Plus, it's been a while, so why don't you show me what you remember."

Always pragmatic, Sabine acquiesced. "Fine, just be quick about it."

Kanan quickly countered, "You can't rush this stuff. Now, Ezra: I'm sensing that her elbow joint needs to be popped back into place. Start there and then work on the fracture in the upper arm."

Getting down on his knees, Ezra took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Reaching out, he began to focus in on Sabine, then to her arm, then to the joint.

Sabine was still angry, but the tingling sensation forced her to fight the small smirk that tried to grow on her lips. A Mandalorian to the core, she jabbed the burn mark from the blaster bolt she'd taken, just to keep the pain going.

Ezra felt her ignite the pain as he shifted the bone back into place. He moved his focus upwards, to the fracture beneath the burn. He was no expert in forensics, and Sabine hadn't actually told him what had happened in the fight, but he was finally grasping the picture: Sabine takes a blaster bolt to her arm, the shoulder pad just barely catches it, and it rapidly heats up from the blast. The kinetic energy fractures the bone and jolts the elbow out of place. It's amazing what a Jedi can learn when they infiltrate a person's body and soul, he couldn't help but think.

"Not too rough," Kanan ordered. He kept his hands on the table and his head down, monitoring Ezra's meandering pace.

The padawan made sure to do as he was told. While a proper Jedi master might have been able to force the bone to heal immediately, all Ezra and Kanan could do was accelerate the fibrin mesh work. Kanan worked with Ezra on it until both started to sweat from exhaustion.

"We'll do this twice every day, starting tomorrow," Kanan decided. "Let's see if we can't focus for an hour in each session. This will not be a quick fix, but it would get Sabine back into fighting shape by the end of the week."

"Thanks, but what about the burn?" Sabine asked very matter-of-factly. "Can you-"

Kanan explained, "It's either the bone or the skin, and we still have bacta patches for burns."

Ezra had come up with five different jabs to make, spanning from her Mandalorian pride to her soft, silky skin. He didn't mean for it to get so affectionate, but he was still going to keep silent, per Sabine's request. Her strong, imposing request. He was still going to be helpful and grabbed some bacta patches from one of the supply drawers. He offered it to her with a smile and nothing more.

Sabine shot him a cold, icy glare as she scrunched her lips into a smile. "Thank you, Ezra," she managed to offer in front of Kanan, whom she did not want to educate on their kiss.

Kanan was still a Jedi knight and could sense the anger, but he wrote it off as more of the typical "Ezra is getting on my nerves" anger that she went through at least once a week. He ignored it, as he was an actual adult with things to do. "I know you don't like sitting out the action, but-"

"But I have to sit the next few combat missions out," Sabine recognized. It was all too familiar to her, not that she ever had to sit out combat missions due to injuries before. She totally never got wounded until today. "I needed an excuse to repaint my armor. I'll be fine, just as long as I don't go stir crazy."

"Write down what you saw with those black storm troopers before you forget anything. That's all I need from you before dinner, so hurry up. We're finishing off the waffles," he promised, to which Sabine agreed with a smile of her own, though he could sense the worry in her spirit as she recalled those troopers of death.

Confident in their abilities, Kanan made sure that Sabine had her exo-cast firm and in place. Satisfied that the bone wouldn't warp as it healed on its own, he left the scene none the wiser. He set to work cleaning his equipment and was blissfully unaware of anything out of the ordinary until Ezra broke his rhythm by barging into his room and asking, "Hey, Kanan, what was your first kiss like?"

* * *

Strolling up to Sabine's door, Ezra took a few deep breaths and recited his thoroughly rehearsed, Kanan-approved question. His heart rattled like a spoon in a bowl with each knock he gave to the door.

"Yes?" Sabine called out in a carefully selected neutral tone.

Swallowing, Ezra cleared his throat and answered, "It's me."

There was a pause, long enough for Ezra to recognize that she was considering not saying anything. He was about to walk away, like Kanan had instructed, but Sabine opened the door. The frown was chilly. "I have questions, and you're going to answer them," she told him.

Surprised, he hastily nodded. "Yeah, sure." He hesitated, unsure of where the boundary was being drawn. "Should I... um, stay out here, or do you want me-"

She stepped aside, motioning for him to enter. He did so, tripping over his own boot and awkwardly hopping into her room.

Not interested in letting any prying ears, or astromech receptors, listen in on her, Sabine shut the door. She didn't expect Ezra to obediently sit down in the chair-table-chair compartment under her raised bed. Ezra, for his part, was following Kanan's advice blindly: submit to the woman, and make her feel taller, in control.

"You told Kanan," she deduced.

"Wow," he admitted, shoulder slouching. "How did-"

"He told me the same thing when I asked hi- _wait a minute! I'm_ asking the questions here!" she shouted, stomping over to him and making sure she loomed over the boy.

"Yes, ma'am," he acknowledged, bowing his head.

She nodded. "Question One: Did you, or did you not like the kiss?"

Looking up at her, he offered a small smile and a nod. "I liked it a lot, I swear. You were gr-"

"Question Two!" she interrupted. "Why did you look at me like I had just suggested we surrender, or something dumb like that?" Much to her annoyance, he gave her the same, confused look that he had given her when she had kissed him.

He tried to explain, "I don't-"

"That look!" she exclaimed, pointing dramatically at his face. "Again with that look! Why do you keep giving me that look?!"

"I was confused?" he offered meekly.

"Confused about what, exactly? You know, Mandalorian females kiss about the same as human males, Ezra! It's not like it's some mysterious kiss culture!" And yet, Sabine couldn't help but notice that she was jumping through so many hoops like a culture. All for one kiss with some dumb, cute boy.

Ezra tried to pick apart that thesis to determine if she had asked a question-question or a rhetorical question.

Huffing, Sabine ran her good hand through her hair, pulling singed strands out as she combed through it. Looking down at him, she opened up. "You're not my first kiss, Ezra."

His lips twitched, but he didn't say anything.

Sabine saw a little bit of disappointment but didn't really care. "But I've known you better than most of my past partners, and you've come to mean more to me than a few of them. I've always felt a sense of pride and accomplishment when I think about how far we've come since those annoying days where you constantly flirted with me."

"I hadn't been in proximity to a woman for years, cut me some slack!" he defended with that smug grin he always had when he knew that the blame wasn't solely on him.

Puffing her cheeks, Sabine blew a sharp, slow stream of air out her mouth. When she was out of air, she nodded. "Believe me, I picked up on that fact very quickly."

He had a small laugh on her remark.

"I thought that if I ever did kiss you, you'd just... I guess look like you'd seen a supernova? Or blown up a bunch of star destroyers, or something joyful like that. I don't get why you looked at me like I was some kind of freak in the moment," she confessed, voice straining as she came up with examples. She couldn't hide the hurt in her tone, that her expectations hadn't been met.

Hesitantly raising his hand, Ezra asked, "May I ask a question?"

Narrowing her eyes, Sabine went to cross her arms and flinched as she remembered that she couldn't do that. "Go on, but if you ask something dumb I'm going to slap you."

Nodding, Ezra explained, "I don't know why you kissed me."

Sabine stared at him for one and a half seconds before turning her stare into a snarling glare and throwing her left hand back, power-swinging it into his shoulder.

He gave her a colorful expression in response.

Sabine's hand was red and stinging. "You kriffing _asked_ me to, kriffing osik-eating di'kutt!"

Ezra's angry eyes melded into thoughtful nostalgia as he began to recall the moment in question.

"Unbelievable!" Sabine practically screamed in his face, her ego fully exploded and her feelings just a little bit hurt. "I can't believe you! I'm the one who got hit in the head! How are you not remembering the most important moment in your life?!"

Ezra began to laugh. Hard.

Sabine stared at him in shock, anger, and all sorts of desires to kill him sprang up.

Ezra kept laughing, and his laughter got harder, throatier, and he almost keeled over.

"I'm going to... to..." Sabine tried to come up with the most horrible death she could possibly imagine, but her anger went full circle, and she couldn't use her imagination in the moment.

"Sabine!" Ezra wheezed, tears nearly coming out. Smearing his hand across his eyes, he huffed and puffed and regained his composure. "Sabine," he said again, more collected.

"What?! What?! Ezra Bridger, what?!" she demanded, slamming her metal boot on the grated, metal floor with each "what" for emphasis. Chest heaving, she clenched her good fist, ready to sock him for his snarky reply.

Collected, he looked her square in the eye and finally revealed, "I told you to _miss_ me!"

Sabine stared at him blankly.

Smiling, his head bobbed as he passionately explained, "You had just missed a bunch of shots, and I told you to shoot in their direction to cover me, and I was joking about your aim! So I told you, 'Don't forget to miss me!', but you thought I said, 'Don't forget to kiss me!' in the moment!"

Sabine continued to stare at him blankly.

Ezra's smile began to fade. "Y'know? The 'M' and 'K' sounds got mixed up?" he tried to elaborate. His smile died when he saw her eye beginning to twitch. "Sabine?" He looked farther down and saw her good fist clenching and unclenching.

Backing away, Sabine leaned against her wall. "I kissed you... because of a miscommunication." For someone who had gone through a lot of death and shooting, Sabine was giving quite the thousand-yard-stare over this. "Ha ha ha," she didn't laugh.

Jumping up, Ezra added, "It was great, though! I really appreciated tha-"

"Shut up, Ezra!" she demanded, screwing her eyes shut as she slapped her hand over her face. "Kriff! Kriff! Kriff it all!" she cursed. "Just kriff it all, aaargh!"

Always one to not understand Mandalorian ways, Ezra tried to ask, "What's the problem? Didn't you enj-"

"I put myself out there!" Sabine explained, eyes still closed. "I... I was intimate with you, because I thought we were going to die, that your plan was going to get us killed, and so I... when you asked... when I thought you asked, I figured... why not."

Ezra was finally beginning to understand. "And because you just misheard me..."

"I feel like an idiot," she finished. "And now Kanan knows I kissed you. My space dad knows I kissed his space son."

"Oops?" he meekly offered. "He doesn't think less of us, or anything like that. If you care."

"Yeah, I bet a lot of space brothers make out with their space sisters," she joked with venom in her tone. "Fantastic. You stole a kiss from me without even trying. After all these years." Lowering her hand, she opened her eyes and stared into his soul. "Whoop-de-doo."

"I'm actually very honored that you kissed me!" Ezra exclaimed. "It's been a while since a girl kissed me!"

Sabine gave him a look.

"It's... been a long while," he corrected.

Sabine raised an eyebrow.

"It's been a few years," he nearly whispered. "Okay, fine, you're my first kiss, and you're kind of the woman in my dreams, and you're- just... getting angrier, I'll go," he finally decided, strutting toward the door and hastily walking through as it opened.

Sabine, always looking to gain control over a situation, called out, "Ezra, wait."

He stopped in the open doorway, looking back with a new hope in his eyes.

"It wasn't your fault," she finally admitted. "I'm sorry for taking my frustrations out on you."

Nodding, he smiled. "Apology accepted."

"Good, I'm so glad we're not enemies," she scoffed in response.

Huffing, Ezra jabbed, "Don't forget to like me while you're at it, please."

"Fine," she acquiesced with a knowing smirk. "But I still feel a little bad. Maybe I'll give you one of my waffles."

Jumping on the opportunity, Ezra boldly asked, "Could I get another kiss?"

Laughing exactly once, she looked for something to throw at him.

"You hit me! I've earned worker's comp!" he explained with a grin. "Besides, don't you want Kanan to know that we're on good terms again? One less thing he'd have to worry about, and he'd be less inclined to tell Hera."

"I can't believe you," she laughed, strutting over to him. Grabbing his collar she smashed her lips against his. This time, he was ready, she noted as he practically shoved his tongue into her mouth. She met his with her own, and the two did a slobbery dance as they both explored the other. With her dominant hand in an exo, Sabine wasn't in a position to fully embrace him. For his part, Ezra eagerly wrapped his hands around her back and pulled her closer. Pulling her left hand away, she wrapped it around his back and felt the muscles flinch at her touch, her inquisitive and roaming touch. She had no idea that he'd become so toned, and she wasn't disappointed with his results. Hot air swamped their senses as the two began to breathe heavily through their noses, neither wanting to break their kiss. As their hands went in patterns, Ezra moved his to her slim sides, and she shivered as they trailed up and down, his gloves snagging on her Mandalorian iron. With her chestplate on, he wasn't able to massage her, or rather: grope her, but he made do. His hands trailed up to her jawline, cupping her ever so tenderly as she sucked on his tongue, swallowing his saliva for the second time in his life. As each moaned in response to the other, Sabine grabbed him by the throat and pushed him away.

Breath catching in his throat, Ezra looked at her in confusion. "Wha-?"

"You've had enough for one day," Sabine decided with her own smug grin. Strutting forward, she placed her hand on his chest. "You're okay for a first-timer, now go tell Kanan that we're on speaking terms again, okay? And don't tell him we kissed again."

Grinning, Ezra let Sabine push him out of her room. Any excuse to have her hand on him was good enough for him. "I'm pretty sure he already knows," he revealed, much to Sabine's shock. "The Force has us linked, Sabine. We can feel each other's emoti-"

"Kriff," she growled, tightening her grip on his collar. Yanking him down, she smashed her lips against his for a third time. This time, she took him by surprise and shoved her tongue into his mouth for good measure. When she felt his hands grace her back again, she shoved him back into the hallway. "If he didn't know then, he definitely knows now!" she decided. Pointing a finger at him, she ordered, "You behave, Ezra Bridger! Consider that one a loan! You tell Kanan that he can mind his own business, now go make sure my waffles get three sauce packets, and if there's any fruit you give me your share, okay?"

"But that's my share!" he argued, happy for the kiss but defiant in giving up his designated portions of food.

"I loaned you a kiss, and I expect repayment!" she countered, also happy for the kiss, but she also knew a deal when she saw one.

"Since when are you part of the Banking Clan?!" he wondered, throwing his hands into the air dramatically. "What about my Force Healing, huh? Doesn't that count for something?"

Rolling her eyes, Sabine acknowledged internally that she was having too much fun with him. "Fine, that one was for the Force Healing, this one's for the waffles and fruit," she decided as she marched out of her room, grabbed him by the throat and pulled him into a fourth kiss.

Careful not to push his luck, Ezra kept his hands and tongue to himself, though he couldn't contain his grin.

After a few seconds, and a few stifled snickerings from both of them, Sabine let go and stepped back. "Now get going!" she ordered again, shooing him away with her hand.

Saluting her, Ezra strutted away. "Anything for you, my dhar'tome!" he called back.

Laughing, she cupped her hand under her mouth and proclaimed, "I'm the wrong gender for that!" She actually wasn't, but seeing him go red was worth it, and she could always explain it to him later. Turning back to her room, Sabine sat down and let her thoughts wander for a few minutes, a dumb smile stretched across her face, until she remembered the task at hand. Getting out a datapad, she considered what she would write on those Death Troopers. It had been an exciting day, and Sabine knew that more were on the horizon, but in that moment she was satisfied with how she was leaving things. She was unsure of what, if anything, would come next, but she felt that the time she'd spent so far was worthwhile enough.

Chuckling, she thought aloud, "Dear diary, today I kissed Death and Ezra. One was a glorious, strong, gripping sensation, and the other was Ezra."

 _The End, for now._

* * *

 **A/N:** Woohoo! I'm super happy with how this turned out! Yes, that's right. I wrote **ALL** of this because of a "Don't forget to miss/kiss me" confusion joke. The dance, the fight, the romance, it was all a setup for this one joke! Ahahahaha! Well, I also had a lot of fun writing everything else. And yes, you read that ending right. I may revisit this in the future, depending on what I'm thinking and how the last season of our favorite show goes. :'D I'd appreciate any feedback, even if it's just, "How dare you not want this ship to happen in the show!"

Thanks for reading this far, and who knows that tomorrow will bring!


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